Stephanie Klein-Davis | The Roanoke Times

Joanne Cook receives an Oreo cookie ice cream cone from Salina Dickerson at Bruster's Real Ice Cream on Brandon Avenue in Roanoke on Friday.

Forget the early-bird specials, buy-one-get-one-free deals and 50 percent-off sales.

Retail spending largely is psychological, and no industry knows that better than local ice cream shop owners.

A torrent of wet weather in the past few months has dampened ice cream sales at a crucial time of year for the industry. And it's too early to tell if this week's sunny skies surge will be enough to lift June's performance.

"If somebody is driving to work, and it's overcast ... that sets their day," said Gary Lierman, who owns two Bruster's Real Ice Cream franchises in Roanoke. "I just think when it's rainy, people stay in."

As the holiday season is for retailers, so are the months of April through July to most ice cream shops. It's the time when these cool treats businesses make the bulk of their sales for the year.

But business isn't as sweet this season. Sales are down from last year, say some ice cream store owners in the Roanoke and New River valleys, in part because of on-and-off rain and flooding throughout the region, and a national recession that's putting enormous pressure on consumers' wallets.

Rainfall totals in Roanoke and Blacksburg so far this month are above normal for a typical June and for the year, according to the National Weather Service in Blacksburg. Also, the region's waterways have risen to historically high levels.

These factors may have caused some people to forgo a trip to the ice cream parlor for this traditional warm-weather dessert. Ice cream usually thrives during a recession because it's affordable and considered comfort food, said Lynda Utterback, executive director for the National Ice Cream Retailers Association in Illinois.

Of course, that's if outside temperatures are high enough and the skies sunny, she added.

"It's more weather dependent than it is economy dependent," she said, particularly if an ice cream retailer does not have indoor seating.

Some local ice cream stores, including Bruster's, Maggie Moo's and Katie's, are experiencing these slowing sales trends.

"We've had lousy weather for my kind of business," said John Stanley, franchise owner of Maggie Moo's in Roanoke and Blacksburg. "It's been one of the wettest, coldest springs."

The Bruster's on Williamson Road in Roanoke County gives away a free second scoop of ice cream if it's snowing or raining. There, customers place their orders at an outside window.

Sunny skies Friday afternoon brought a few people to Bruster's.

"It's a treat to us, a nice day. It's been raining all week," said Judy Johnson of Bedford County, who pulled up to the Williamson Road shop with her husband, Kevin.

Lierman said June sales are down about 2 percent from last year. They usually peak near the Fourth of July, and then drop during the hottest part of the summer, when people opt to stay indoors to keep cool.

The poor economy is another obvious drag on business. It's also affecting sales of packaged ice cream and frozen treats, according to Mintel, a market research company. Mintel predicts that purchases of ice cream and other frozen novelties will decline slightly this year, as people choose lower-priced options or cut out unnecessary spending.

"When people don't have disposable income, they don't spend," Lierman said. "We [Bruster's] are discretionary spending totally."

To be sure, not all ice cream retailers are suffering this year.

Bratcher's Ice Cream Parlor in Roanoke opened a new, stand-alone drive-through on Monday. The Orange Avenue spot sells 16 flavors of Hershey's ice cream, along with banana splits, smoothies and other ice cream treats.

The small building formerly housed a coffee retailer, Java the Hutt. Bratcher's main shop is in the retail center behind the drive-through.

Owner Martin Bratcher said he wanted to build sales with a drive-through, because it's not as weather-dependent as a regular storefront.

Bratcher's June sales so far have increased about 15 percent from last year. That's not all for ice cream. Bratcher's also sells some foods, such as hot dogs, hamburgers and chicken salad.

As for the sales surge, "people are rushing to more comfort foods," Bratcher said. "This is the ultimate comfort food."

Ice cream is an escape that Pat Reynolds said she'll keep buying, despite a tighter budget.

She bought two ice cream-filled waffle cones at Bruster's on Williamson Road on Friday afternoon. One cone was for her and the other was for her 90-year-old mother.

"It's not going to run you in the poorhouse," Reynolds said, juggling the cones of butter pecan and peach ice cream in one hand. "You have to treat yourself to something."

Even so, she used one of Bruster's two-for-$6 coupons to pay for her treats.